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May 01, 2007
Happy International Workers' Day! And~ Avast! Alas and alack. + other news
Today is very auspicious in many ways. If you happen to be in Chicago, this is a very nice place to visit and maybe leave a red flower or something for Red Emma. In some parts of the world this day has been one of elaborate and interesting rituals, some of which involved hanging a sprig of rowan on your door, which sounds like a fine idea to me- but just a small sprig, cause that stuff is expensive! In addition to hanging up pieces of yarn, there is of course the Maypole dancing, a ritual which I wouldn't mind seeing revived, although maybe not with hippies- but is it possible to have a Pagan ritual with no hippies? Probably not. And plus often involving fire- again, from Wikipedia (oh, I am lazy! I know) in the olden times a fire was lit in the belly button of Ireland-
"For the Celts, Beltane marked the beginning of the pastoral summer season when the herds of livestock were driven out to the summer pastures and mountain grazing lands. In modern Irish, Mí na Bealtaine ('month of Bealtaine') is the name for the month of May. The name of the month is often abbreviated to Bealtaine, with the festival day itself being known as Lá Bealtaine. The lighting of bonfires on Oidhche Bhealtaine ('the eve of Bealtaine') on mountains and hills of ritual and political significance was one of the main activities of the festival.
In ancient Ireland the main Bealtaine fire was held on the central hill of Uisneach 'the navel of Ireland', the ritual centre of the country, which is located in what is now County Westmeath. "
Also, some dude named Dwelly described a Beltane ritual which was practiced in the Scottish Highlands thusly~
"In many parts of the Highlands, the young folks of the district would meet on the moors on 1st May. They cut a table in the green sod, of a round figure, by cutting a trench in the ground of sufficient circumferences to hold the whole company. They then kindled a fire, dressed a repast of eggs and milk of the constituency of custard. They kneaded a cake of oatmeal, which was toasted at the embers against a stone. After the custard was eaten, they divided the cake into as many portions as there were people in the company, as much alike as possible in size and shape. They daubed one of the pieces with charcoal, til it was black all over, and they were then all put into a bonnet together, and each one blindfolded took out a portion. The bonnet holder was entitled to the last bit, and whoever drew the black bit was the person who was compelled to leap three times over the flames. Some people say this was originally to appease a god, whose favour they tried to implore by making the year productive. (Dwelly, 1911, "Bealltuinn")"
Kerazy.
Plus, while we're posting links to things, there was a little bit about knitters in Blacksburg, VA, in the New York Times today, (the story itself is actually about the economic impact on the area -kind of creepy, maybe not what the writer intended, but that's how it read to me- and also the things people are doing to help the town and university recover from the tragedy) with a nice picture of some women sitting at a table in a yarn shop, knitting squares in Hokies colors. They are making 32 blankets for families of those killed. I really like the idea of knitting as a mourning ritual and also group comfort ritual. I like the idea that as they work together they are also collectively grieving. I've never been able to knit a purely memorial object before. Something to think about.
So. Remember the Sweater Curse Defying Avast cardigan?
Don't mock the Sweater Curse. It will smite you. This is what I've learned, although it didn't smite me in the usual way. No, it will choose an unexpected way to smite you so you will learn your lesson, the Sweater Curse is serious and not to be messed with! Believe it!
What happened was I was grooving along, thinking everything was fine, and then I started thinking. It was too simple, things were going too smoothly, there had to be something I was missing. So I read the pattern again, and yeah. I skipped a step. So I had done about 4-ish inches of the 15 inches of stockinette stitch~
When I realized I hadn't picked up 4 of every 5, then knit 4, made 1 in the next row, I had just picked up the stitches. So not a huge deal but I had to rip everything back to the nice little cabled border. Now I'm starting over, with due respect to the Sweater Curse.
Oh, and p.s.
Here is a film to see immediately if you haven't already- The Science Of Sleep. (thanks to Julia for the tip!) Then watch it again with the commentary by the director and actors! Especially if you are in lovelovelove with Gael Garcia Bernal, (click the link and dig the hat too- where can I get the pattern!) like I am. You'll laugh! You'll cry! Believe it!
Posted by at May 1, 2007 08:28 AM